I have used both but prefer blue painter's tape. It has never left any residue on my fabric or floor and peels off easier (and with less pulling on the fabric) than the masking tape I had.

Sheila N.

When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000 step process."

When I use masking tape to tape down the backing fabric to the floor first, the masking tape is on the inside of the backing (wrong side) so I don't worry about any residue. I do reinforce the tape to fabric with a pin because fabric and tape don't stick all that well. I then lay the batt on top of the backing (no tape) Last I place the top on top of the sandwich carefully matching the register marks on the backing to get it centered. If you are spray basting, then you do that between the steps. If you are pin basting or thread basting it's time to break out the knee pads and crawl around until the job is done. Remove the tape and quilt your sandwich.